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UNITED NATIONS, November 21 – After Presidents Trump and Putin issued a Joint Statement on Syria on November 11, two senior US Administration officials emphasized that the Astana process will continue, though focused they said on de-confliction, and that UN envoy de Mistura has "wide latitude." Not addressed, however, was the showdown in the UN Security Council about extending or ending the Joint Investigative Mechanism on chemical weapons use. Now on November 21, this Trump read-out, after he pardoned the turkeys Drumstick and Wishbone, again silent on JIM: "President Donald J. Trump today spoke with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for more than one hour.  The presidents affirmed their support for the Joint Statement of the United States and the Russian Federation, issued at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit on November 11.  Both presidents also stressed the importance of implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254, and supporting the U.N.-led Geneva Process to peacefully resolve the Syrian civil war, end the humanitarian crisis, allow displaced Syrians to return home, and ensure the stability of a unified Syria free of malign intervention and terrorist safe havens.
The two presidents affirmed the importance of fighting terrorism together throughout the Middle East and Central Asia and agreed to explore ways to further cooperate in the fight against ISIS, al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other terrorist organizations. President Trump and President Putin also discussed how to implement a lasting peace in Ukraine, and the need to continue international pressure on North Korea to halt its nuclear weapon and missile programs." Whither JIM? Or, wither JIM. Back on October 31, six weeks after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met Russia's Sergey Lavrov in New York, he met Russia's Ambassador to the US in Washington and issued this read-out through spokesperson Heather Nauert: "U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov met this afternoon at the Department of State. They discussed the need to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and fully implement the Minsk agreements.  The two also discussed the defeat of ISIS in Syria and the United States’ continued commitment to the Geneva talks as the best path toward a political solution to the conflict.  Other topics included countering the threat posed by North Korea and the prospects for improving our bilateral relationship." As UN General Assembly week started up, the US announced that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at 9 pm, at Russia's Mission to the UN. Inner City Press after asking Cote d'Ivoire president Alassane Ouattara a question about Myanmar - without answer - biked up to that Mission on 67th Street. There in the half light were dozens of reporters and photographers, waiting for Tillerson to leave. In the street were US body guards with machine guns. Tillerson emerged and said nothing, driving away. Video here. Most of the Western wire service correspondents, one a photographer who'd been at the UN photo op with Ouattara but not the stakeout with Ivorian media, turned and left. Then the spokesman for Lavrov, and before him for now deceased Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, emerged and briefed in Russia. Inner City Press was informed second hard that she said the topics had been Syria, Ukraine and Minsk implementation, and “North Africa.” Later the US State Department said, “U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met this evening in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The two recommitted to deconflicting military operations in Syria, reducing the violence, and creating the conditions for the Geneva process to move forward, pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.” So what about North Africa? Peacekeepers in Ukraine? Watch this site.

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